Susan Ryles

About

Background

Retiring in 2002 after a 28+ year career with BellSouth in Human Resources, I returned to school to study what was always my first love, art. I earned a BFA in Sculpture in 2009, Summa cum laude at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Atlanta.

My interest in the three-dimensional world began in the 90's with wheel thrown and hand-built clay/ceramics as a creative outlet and stress reliever from a hectic corporate career. At that time I studied ceramics at Callanwolde Arts Center and Spruill Arts Center in Atlanta. I also attended numerous ceramics workshop intensives at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina, Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts in Tennessee and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine.

After graduating from SCAD, I participated in an arts incubator program, part of the revitalization efforts of the downtown historic district in Stone Mountain, GA, where I owned and ran a small art gallery and studio. This led to a position as the Executive Director of the Downtown Development Authority and the Main Street organization for the City of Stone Mountain.

My husband and I moved to the Georgia coast in 2014 and I took the Executive Director’s position at Glynn Visual Arts in 2015. Most of my creative energies are now spent managing Glynn Visual Arts, a non-profit community arts center on Saint Simons Island, GA. It’s a perfect blending of my artistic and business experience. I am on the Board of Directors of Golden Isles Arts & Humanities and has completed the Glynn County Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Glynn program.

Medium(s)

While technically I am a sculptor, I use a variety of mediums and materials to communicate. Ceramics is a first love. I work with a variety of techniques but am mainly drawn to slab building for its architectural qualities. Assemblage and collage provide design and material challenges which really appeal to me and transformation is an important and continuing theme. The idea of making something interesting or beautiful from nothing or discarded/recycled items is a great joy.

Inspiration & Philosophy

I am inspired by a great variety of things, travel, nature, literature and poetry and politics to name a few. Most of my artwork has an underlying conceptual idea that I'm attempting to communicate. At times, it's fairly obvious, at other times, I want the viewer to decipher the message(s) the piece carries without obvious or overt explanation. The viewer always brings their own filter or life experiences to bear on any piece of artwork and I want to leave room for multiple interpretations.